Five Alarm Security, military supply co. sign deal

DEL MAR, Calif.--A discovery made while selling security glass laminate to local businesses prompted Homeland Security Technology to enter the security alarm business and seek out a partnership with Five Alarm Security of Carlsbad, Calif. The two companies signed an agreement at the end of August. Financial terms were not released. Under the deal, Five Alarm, a Honeywell authorized dealer, will install and monitor alarms for HST customers in Southern California. For HST customers outside its geographic reach, Five Alarm will refer HST to another authorized Honeywell dealer. "What this means to us is additional exposure as we establish our name," said Sean Hamm, president of Five Alarm Security. After a decade in the alarm business, Hamm opened Five Alarm Security in 2002. The company serves 900 accounts in the San Diego area. Its customers are 80 percent residential and 20 percent commercial. "We're happy to work with HST and be providers of equipment, expertise and access to other Honeywell dealers,'' he said. Based here, HST was founded less than two years ago. Until recently, HST's main business was in supplying goods--including combat trauma bags and hand-held GPS units--to the military and troops abroad. It only entered the physical security market earlier this year when it signed a deal with a North Carolina-based guard business. Wilson said HST started receiving calls from private citizens about alarm systems this summer and it discovered a demand for better alarm and monitoring systems while selling security glass laminates to small businesses. "We found that they (small businesses) had VHS locally monitored onsite, but what they really needed was a system that the owner could monitor from another locale. That's how we got involved in the security and video monitoring business," Wilson said. To get into this market, HST needed to find a local business partner. "Our customers wanted a locally monitored alarm system. They wanted immediate access to alarm personnel. That's what made Five Alarm a perfect fit for us," he said. The Honeywell two-way monitoring system, called SafeLink, is popular with customers he said. "The command center can talk into the residence. It can call the homeowner and it can speak directly to an intruder...this is also great for businesses," he said.